Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Book Review: 'The Secret World of Alaina Downs'

I definitely feel as though I have been blogging so much this month! I usually don't blog this much but I have definitely gotten better at blogging like I promised. I'm actually blogging more than twice a month! Woohoo!

Anyway, today I wanted to review the book The Secret World of Alaina Downs by my author friend Rebecca Reynecki. *Note I am writing this review by my own accord. She did not request this. I just wanted to talk about the awesomeness that this book is!*

So I'm not sure where to begin except that this book is well written and different from what's currently popular. It takes place in third person point of view so the reader has  significant knowledge about other characters. This story has wit, humor, romance, action, fantasy...a little bit of everything! Where do I even start without giving the book away?

In The Secret World of Alaina Downs, Alaina is transported to a mythical world that she imagined when she was a teenager called Isleen. The Queen Astra of Isleen has called Alaina to their world to send her on a quest with the ever handsome knight, Sir Gabriel, to save the ill princess. As for what happens during the quest, you'll have to read and find out!

Rynecki had so much knowledge about medieval times that even I learned a few new things! Obviously she has background knowledge about this time period and offers the reader new insight into what it might have been like to live during that time. Sewage in the street was not the greatest moment in human history. Um hello, plague! Anyway, that aspect was thoroughly intriguing. I mean, Rynecki knew everything about the food, clothing, common speech, and legends and it comes across well in her writing. Even the mythical dragons and other creatures were there which made the story more exciting!

Speaking of action, there were a few great scenes of human vs. mythical creature action here. Gabriel slayed those beasts like nobody's business! It was nice to see that not all fairytale creatures are good. The ogres aren't like the ogres from Shrek, fairies are baby snatchers, and mermaids are just...creeps (so are witches!). The fact that Rynecki utilized these creatures so well made the plot line intriguing and I was like: "What will happen next? Actually, what will attack them next?"

The romance. Man oh man. This is recommended for Mature YA and I am going to recommend it as that too. The romance that blossoms makes for some pretty steamy scenes. But the relationship between the two lead characters grows at a good pace and there are other emotions besides just lust for one another which I appreciated. Makes a good foundation for a realtionship to talk about things and laugh.

Laughing is what I did often actually! There were a few scenes with Alaina and Gabriel that I just burst out loud laughing! Alaina was witty and trying to explain things from the real world to Gabriel and he didn't understand and it got me thinking about how do you explain what electricity is to some whose never seen it? I'm still working on that one. Alaina's explanation was good though! There were many funny scenes I enjoyed. I even went back on my kindle and highlighted my favorite parts but there were so many that I couldn't decide which one I should post. So I decided that you should go and read it for yourself and then you'd know what I'm talking about. Their whole quest together was hilarious. Great character development there too!

All around, this was a great and enjoyable read and I cannot wait until the second one comes out! Great job Rebecca! Now here is the awesome cover for you all to stare at:



Until next time,

-Paulina

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